Buncombe County was zoned tonight on a second reading of the proposed ordinance. Only Bill Stanley voted against the measure. No public comment was taken, but unlike the first reading, the commissioners attempted to defend their positions for the public this time.
Chair David Gantt took the lead. In a long speech, he admitted the ordinance was not perfect, but it would be a living document. He claimed first and foremost that zoning protected property rights and looked after the little guy. To elaborate, he claimed the little guy without zoning had no say in what happens in his community.
Maybe he was just trying to peddle the public weasel words, or maybe he actually believed that property rights were a communal thing. This would be fine if our social contract was pure communist and we all gave according to our abilities and nobody cheated. Unfortunately, whereas the county and the City of Asheville choose to act as if we’re communists on the receiving end, they still insist on taxing individuals on personal property. They still insist on registering deeds in accordance with which individuals pay for the land. They even don’t have a People’s Bureau of Maintenance – yet. It was a blatant illustration of government’s notion of: You invest, we take. It was communist only inasmuch as government benefited.
The concept was reinforced with the security wandings of everybody who wanted to enter the commissioners’ chambers. One cannot conscientiously object to the humiliation and disgrace of having to stand spread eagle with officers standing by to pat them down, as they are guilty until proven innocent. After all, whose body is it anyway? It’s our body, and we can do what we want with it. Or maybe it’s just theirs. It’s hard to tell these days.
